Forest Fires
by whitewolfmoro11
Summary: Sakaki is wanted dead for illegal learning of firebending. Odd, I know. She has found a place to hide but is lured out by one job: find the avatar.


Oy. This happens to be mah first fanfic, not that it really matters. All I wish is for you all to read the thing, and review to tell me if you liked it or if it sucked. And if you think it sucks, then you have the right never to look at this again. Kay? Kay. Hope you like it!

"Sakaki."

"Hey. Sakaki!"

Sakaki's eyes snapped open and traveled around the room. The sun was creeping its way over the snow-capped mountaintops, it's color spilled onto the sheets like blood.

She stared at the guard that had so rudely woken her up. "What do you want Hiro? If I remember correctly, I spent almost the whole night trying to round up those horses that ran off. I can't have gone to sleep more than an hour ago, so this had better be important."

She started to say something else, but Hiro cut her off. "Oh, trust me, this is important. A couple of messengers are here to see you."

"Here, to see me?"

"That's right."

"Oh…I think I see. It's war business isn't it?"

"Yes, most likely." For a minute, there was a long silence as the two remembered all the pain that had come from the war. Even the songbirds outside seemed to stop their chirping.

Finally Sakaki broke the silence. "Okay, fine. They probably aren't going to leave until they see me, so I'll be out in 10 minutes. Oh yeah, where are they from again?"

Hiro's eyes widened as if he had just gone to battle and forgotten how to bend. "Ummm…" he stalled as he tried to think of a good excuse. After some good thinking and still at a loss for words, he had no choice but to answer dumbly, "We…. Uhhh don't really know. Nobody thought to ask."

"What!" she yelled while jumping out of bed and yanking a brush painfully through her tangled black hair, "some strangers just stroll up to the camp and ask for me, and you just have them wait there without any precaution at all? What kind of guard are you! You just let them in, like they're old buddy's, right? I can't believe you"

Hiro had nothing to do except stand there staring at the floor and listen to Sakaki scream at him. "It's not as bad as you think," he mumbled. "We have about ten other guards ready to toast them in their boots if they try anything stupid."

Sakaki, calmed by the thought that Hiro hadn't been a _complete_ idiot, looked back at him. "Sure," she said. "Just watch them closely until I come out."

When the messengers looked at Sakaki, they saw a youth no more that fifteen or sixteen, with a waist length black braid falling down "his" back, and a mask in the shape of a snarling wolf's head cut off just below the top jaw, revealing a mouth fixed in a scowl that made the two feel like pond scum, despite the fact they were a good foot taller than the teen.

The real thing they couldn't take their eyes off of were Sakaki's claws. Made out of steel, they fitted like gloves over her hands and moved as though the wearer were born with them. The way the inch-long tips shined made them seem as if they were alive.

She wore a necklace in the shape of a flame. It was strung on a thin rope of rabbit hide that marked her as the leader of the Golden Dragons, an army of firebenders in the east.

On "his" shoulder was a huge golden warhawk; it's feathers and head armor shining in the sunlight. It watched them closely with its head cocked to the side, and prowling around them was a red wolf, growling under his breath, and ready to pounce on command. The thick fur on his back was raised and his tail swished around in annoyance.

Behind her mask, Sakaki glared at the messengers. _They're from the fire nation capitol,_ she thought, _all of them are lying cheats, they can't be trusted._

She had bulked up her figure with armor, making sure to hide any evidence that she was female.

"Talk," she said in a low, hard voice. "Why are you here?"

One of the messengers, a tall man with a beard, took off his helmet. "One shouldn't discuss business with a hidden face, Haraise."

"One also shouldn't barge in on someone uninvited, and besides," she shot back, "I technically outrank you, so whether I take off my mask or not should be my decision, shouldn't it?"

"Fine," the messenger said with disgust, "Back to the real reason we came," he cleared his throat and began.

"First of all, the fire lord sends his regards and hopes you will accept his offer." Sakaki listened for about five seconds before flexing her claws and growling, "I'm getting impatient."

"Yes, well, as you know, the fire nation has tried it's best to end this terrible war for a long time now. The problem is, the other nations will not do as we order and continue to fight. Our armies are beginning to weaken and the fire lord requests that you and your army help us end this. What should I tell my lord?"

_Wow,_ Sakaki thought,_ they must be really desperate to come ask me for help. Either that or they know nothing of the Golden Dragons and who they trust._

She snickered and turned around. Adjusting her mask she started to walk off and said, "You can tell him drop dead for all I care."

Sakaki hadn't gone five steps before the other man, who had been quietly listening the whole time, pulled out the sword at his belt and raised it above his head, ready to slice her in half.

But as he brought the sword down, Sakaki brought her own up to block it. "Now _that_," she hissed, "wasn't very nice."

She then looked at the red wolf and yelled "Hibana! Guard!" The wolf stopped in mid-step and pounced on the bearded messenger. He pinned him down, growling and snorting smoke in his face.

The one Sakaki was blocking turned his swords attention to the wolf. Sakaki put two fingers in her mouth and made a high, sharp whistle. The warhawk perching on her shoulder spread it's wings and with a loud screech, snatched the sword out of his hands. The bird landed on the top of a distant tree that quivered under the warhawk's weight

Sakaki swished her hand and a whip, glowing red with fire, materialized in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, the whip wrapped itself around the mans ankle. He crashed clumsily to the rocky, copper-colored ground.

She casually strolled over to where the messenger lay on the ground and put her foot on his chest. "Suzu is over there in the tree and she has your sword," she reminded him, "and Hibana currently has your friend under his power. You both have no chance of escaping unless I let you go."

Sakaki whistled for Suzu to come back to her with the sword, which she stabbed into the ground next to the man's face. She then ordered Hibana to get back and lifted her foot off the messenger's chest.

"As you might imagine," she said to the shocked messengers, "my answer is no. So I suggest you get out of my camp, before I reduce you to the number of men it actually _does_ take to deliver a message."

The two men scrambled to their feet and took off into the nearby woods, as Sakaki watched them go with self-satisfaction.

"Hey, Hiro," she called. The guard came to her side.

"I seem to have lost my memory in the process of fighting so early in the morning. So tell me, how many men _does _it take to deliver a message?"

He smirked and pulled an arrow out of a quiver on his back.

"One," he said, and the arrow flew.

pokes reader You should be reviewing, should you not?


End file.
